Afghanistan- War hurts economy: Govt.

(MENAFN - Afghanistan Times) AT News Report-KABUL: The Ministry of Economy says that the continued war has badly affected the Afghan economy, but believes at the same time that there are good economic capacities to save the country from chaos.

Officials in the ministry acknowledge insecurity and increasing poverty, saying that there are some non-economic elements too that affect economic situation.

'Insecurity and the decrease of international assistances have affected our economy, but if the non-economic elements allow, our economy will stand soon on its own feet,' said Sohrab Bahman, spokesman of the ministry.

'Our economy is not in a bad situation and we have had good achievements and developments in many parts. We are hopeful we can gain more achievements in the next years. We are not in an economic crisis now,' Bahman said Saturday.

However, the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), has recently said that economic situation in Afghanistan was heading towards crisis.

Azerakhsh Hafezi, head of the ECO's Afghanistan office said that the current situation was harming economic products and discourages investment in the country.

Differences and problems inside the government are called as other factors affecting economic situation. Poverty level has soared up to 54 per cent from 39 per cent in the recent years. But the ministry of economy rejects any differences inside the government over big projects.

Meanwhile, economic experts believe that Afghanistan is passing bad economic situation and the government is also interested in investing growth, but cannot implement their goals.

'The main problem is that a pseudo economy is dominant in Afghanistan and there is no real economy. Pseudo economy creates problems. There were differences inside government in the past three years that has banned economic growth,' said economic analyst, Sayed Rahman Omran.

The government is working to reach seven per cent economic growth, while there is three per cent growth now.